Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Important Information from New Castle County

Bruce Tease from Landmark/JCM attended a meeting with New Castle County Special Services. ACEC meets with NCC Special Services quarterly to coordinate items of common interest. For more information on the important matters discussed, please contact Bruce at 302-323-9377 x 122

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Green Building - Most Active Verifiers



The National Association of Homebuilders recently published a list of their most active Green Building Verifiers accross the country.  Joe Gordon of Landmark/JCM was listed with 34 verifications as one of the top verifiers in the country.

This is a proud accomplishment for Joe and Landmark/JCM.  According to recent records, 36 homes have been certified Green by the NAHB Green Building Program in Delaware and Joe has done 34 of them or 94%.  Delaware is far ahead of many States with the number of certified Green homes and Joe is a big part of that.

Congratulations Joe, keep up the good work.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Jim Re-Appointed to NAHB Committee

Jim McCulley was re-appointed to the National Association of Homebuilders, Environmental Issues Commitee for 2010.

The committee and subcommittees will meet in Washington, DC in April, New York City in September and Orlando, FL in January of 2011.

Jim was proud to serve on this committee in 2009 and honored to be re-appointed for another year.  The committee is currently dealing with several issues at the national level, including:

  • Storm Water ELGs
  • Chesapeake Bay
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Climate Change
  • Wetlands

For more information, contact Jim at (302) 323-9377 or jim@jcmenv.com

Friday, January 22, 2010

International Builders Show

Jim is back from the International Builders Show (IBS) where he got a lot of good information related to the economy, environmental issues and energy efficiency.

Jim serves on the Environmental Issues Committee at the National Association of Homebuilders and had his regular committee meeting in association with the IBS Convention.  Jim also serves on the NAHB Board of Directors which also met in conjunction with IBS.

For more information, contact Jim at 302-323-9377 or jim@jcmenv.com

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

New Castle County Land Use Meeting

Bruce Tease, President of Landmark/JCM, attended a meeting between ACEC and NCCLU recently and reported the following:

1. NCC has received 3 plans submitted under the '2 Step Enhanced Review Process'. NCC is working on revised check list to clearly identify what is required for Exploratory submissions and what is required for Record submissions. Some old Preliminary Plan items have been moved up to Exploratory and some have been moved to back to Record. In the interim please read "Appendix 2" in the 2 step process documents to get the Exploratory submission requirements to make a complete submission.


2. NCCLU has agreed to review (with input from ACEC) current code requirements for parking, sidewalks, and landscaping. The current 'green' initiatives will be considered in each case.

3. NCCLU is reviewing current LDIA bonding requirements. Consideration will be given to reducing bonding requirements and possibly providing for phasing similar to DELDOT.

4. NCCLU has been advised by Randy Greer that a digitized version of the New Castle County soils mapping will soon be available. ACEC members will be notified.

5. George Haggerty will look into the 'Site Plan' review process. Evidently the Planning Department is reviewing the initial submission as an Exploratory Plan submission when this should be a one step process.

6. NCCLU is meeting with DNREC to discuss schedule and requirements for implementation of EPA Turbidity requirements for site runoff.

7. NCC has had provided information to DAPE about firms and professional engineers that consistently prepare sub-standard engineering.

8. NCCLU is working on providing the capability to print electronic CCR reports. All CCR reports should be submitted electronically. Paper submissions will be cut off soon.

9. A refined definition for 'non-delineated floodplain' will be issued using a minimum 50 acre threshold.


10. A policy for 'construction shut downs' is near completion. A copy will be issued to ACEC, HBA, and interested parties for review and comment.

11. Revisions to the 'Sign Code', Sewer Ordinance, and BRAC Amendments are all in process at NCC.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Associate of the Year Nominee at the National Level


Jim McCulley, Principal at Landmark/JCM has been nominated for the Associate of the Year at the National Level for the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB).

The award will be presented at the International Builder's Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday January 20th.

There are twenty nominees from all over the United States.

Congratulations Jim!